Years come and go, problems stay. However, the type of problems will inevitably change with time. Bad grades, knees, and managers all manage to feature at various points over a lifetime.
So one netizen was curious to take a somewhat existential trip and hear others’ thoughts on the “worst” thing about being a certain age. From early teens to late seventies, people from all walks of life shared their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Some wrote complaints, others shared sweet moments. We also got in touch with counseling psychologist, psychotherapist, and content creator Divija Bhasin to learn more. So get comfortable as you scroll through upvote the most relatable posts, and be sure to comment your own “worsts” below.
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#1
58. Being single again. Dating is very different now. Oh, and my brain still thinks I’m 25 and my body thinks I’m an idiot! Lol.
Image credits: justaman65
#2
42 – I wake up with bodily injuries from sleeping.
Image credits: demonsneeze
#3
I’ll be 38 on Friday, worst thing is all the questions I receive about whether or not I’m planning on getting married and having kids or being asked why I don’t have kids yet. Trust me, it wasn’t for a lack of trying, PCOS is a bastard plus unhealthy relationships. Can we finally move forward from asking women when they will have kids? It’s rude and insensitive to those with fertility issues or who decided to remain child-free.
Image credits: LostandFinding85
Bored Panda got in touch with Divija Bhasin to learn more about the fear of aging and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions. Divija is a 26-year-old counseling psychologist, psychotherapist, influencer, and content creator based out of New Delhi. She is also the founder of a mental health organization called “The Friendly Couch” which provides therapy to people in need.
We wanted to hear her thoughts on why the idea of aging often affects people negatively. “There could be many reasons for this depending on the person. One of them is that we are afraid of our own mortality. We would like to avoid the idea that we cannot live forever and aging reminds us of that. Another reason could be how society views aging. We see old people as “incapable” and not as a part of society.”
#4
55 here, we’ve experienced so much change in our lifetime. We were here when there was only 3 or 4 channels on TV and no remote controls, there were no cell phones , no home computers, etc. Now look what all is out here in this world. To be honest I miss the days before all the technology a little and think it’s kinda sad that kids today don’t know what it’s like without it. People were more real back then. Being a teenager in the 80s was great.
Image credits: pinkypoo49
#5
29 – last year of being in that fruitful 20s stage. People expect that you should know by now. People also expect that you should get married and have kids or else whatever. Spoiler alert: I get tired just by existing.
Image credits: g13j
#6
35m. Ability to gain weight, and lose hair increasing at a terrifying rate.
Image credits: Bchulo
“It is looked down upon if an aged person does “normal things” like working, dating, etc. This can be extremely isolating and make the process of aging more difficult to deal with. As humans, we like to be in control of our bodies as it is easier to protect ourselves that way. Aging is beyond our control which makes us feel helpless and unsafe, she shared with Bored Panda.
#7
71. Body is beginning its inevitable slowdown. Not happy. I still try to keep fit (do some jogging, some stationary bicycling and some really light lifting), but it sure takes a lot more effort than it did previously, and keeping the extra pounds off is really difficult. Also had a bout with prostate cancer (which happens to just about every man sooner or later; the saying is that you either die with prostate cancer or from it…) which was successfully dealt with by surgery but which has left me, well, half the man I was before (the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, as the expression goes). Once the plumbing begins to fail, the rest follows.
Image credits: amerkanische_Frosch
#8
33 — feeling simultaneously young and healthy and old and broken down. There are days i wake up refreshed and crush it in the gym, and there are days i feel like i tweak my back washing dishes or some s**t
Image credits: dan_camp
#9
42 here, life is the best it’s ever been yet I’m probably halfway through or past halfway already. Time flies.
Naturally, we wanted to hear what advice she had for people to overcome this feeling. “Some of the things people can do to accept that they are getting older – remember that you may not have control over aging but you do have control over other things in your life. Make connections with people of all age groups.”
#10
36 – I’m single and don’t want kids, and finding someone my age who is single and doesn’t already have kids is proving difficult.
Image credits: Jpw119
#11
19- I have no idea what to do with my life.
Image credits: Street_Plate_6461
#12
44 and just went through the worst year of life yet. Lost dad. Mental health declined due to my mother declining alzheimer’s (stage 6 of 7) lost job after not dealing with this well. I say lost but I was bullied out by two women. One of those women died days after sacking me (natural causes). I live in a small dreary town where people are two faced. I turned to weed big time and my relationship took a nosedive. Health took a bigger nosedive. But… I feel like I’m coming through the worst. I got stronger and determined to chase my dreams of being a writer. I placed in the top 1% of a screenplay contest with the BBC recently and have been placed on their radar as a writer and have two labradors who get me out the house. I stopped smoking and started looking after me and honestly. The future looks okay.
I was on the verge of ending it all and without a consultation with local help I may have. If you’re in the dark, reach out. I promise people want to listen and want to help. You don’t have to go through it alone. Even if it’s reddit. People care. You matter.
“This might help give you new perspectives and show you that everyone is growing old. It’ll show you how others deal with aging. Stay active. Just because society has this notion that an old person is just someone who sits on a chair all day and doesn’t “do” anything, does not mean it has to be true for you (as long as your health allows it).”
#13
39 m. I’ve finally arrived at the age where I can’t get rid of this damned abdominal weight. I swear my stomach is in full blown Manifest Destiny mode and is spreading to my back in an attempt to stretch coast to coast.
#14
At 43 it’s watching the younger generation struggle. It started to get bad in the later 90s, but at least I could afford a studio as a young man.
Now you need two or three roommates to afford rent in a one bedroom and you’re never going to make enough to buy a house, unless you stay with your parents until you are in your later 20s or early 30s and save up.
College does not guarantee a good paying job anymore and if you do find a job, you have a mountain of college debt to pay off.
I think it sucks watching the young men and women today struggle in the American nightmare.
Image credits: Samisoy001
#15
36 and watching the older people I love decline in health. So f*****g scary. I lost my Grandma to lung cancer a couple years ago. She was only 67. My dad’s mom died of lung cancer in her 50s. His dad died in his 60s. He was an alcoholic. My mom’s health is bad. She just found out she has cancer again (3rd time) and I’m so f*****g scared, dude. I’m not ready to be the most senior/responsible person in my family. I worry that my life is halfway over already even though I don’t smoke cigarettes and don’t drink.
Image credits: Electronic-Cat86
She left us with some parting thoughts. “The problem with aging is not just the fact that it is difficult to accept due to the idea of death, it is also how we push old people away from society. Social support is very important for all age groups. It is vital that we talk more about the mental health struggles associated with old age so we can help support old people and help them live a better life.” You can find Divija Bhasin’s work on Instagram here and you can find her LinkedIn profile here.
#16
In my early 30’s. In that age range, you have to be actively taking care of your body. If you don’t exercise, eat responsibly, and/or sleep adequately, you REALLY feel it.
The good news is that I’ve managed to get into a good health routine, and I feel like I’m in my early 20’s. The bad news is that most of my friends haven’t, and don’t have the energy to do things with me. The ones that have are now starting to have kids and don’t have time to do stuff.
I honestly feel like I’m in my prime health, time, and disposal income years, and I struggle finding people to enjoy it with.
Image credits: bestprocrastinator
#17
52: Flexibility. I just wake up and nearly needs medical assistance just to go to pee. It requires 30min for the body to just acknowledge the fact that I am still alive and that I need all my fonctions up and running.
#18
23. Empty wallet. No house. Still living at home trying desperately to find affordable homes for sale (nonexistent)
Image credits: ratttttttttttt
#19
16- everyone expects you to act like an adult but still treats you like a child.
Image credits: mekurinkitafuto
#20
34 – just old enough to start thinking about getting old and no longer feeling young.
Image credits: Aibeit
#21
58, I’m still 16 at heart, and not in bad shape, but man my knees and back are f****d!
#22
At 47 I had to give up a few sports that I can no longer play safely. Besides that, nothing, I appreciate the wisdom that comes with age.
Image credits: bigshotz76
#23
23, you’re expected to have so much ambition in life. Bonus if you’re a female, you’re expected to have a partner and are questioned if you don’t.
Image credits: ArdeParis
#24
57. The realization that I’m 13 years away from 70 is wild. My parents are gone, my cousins are all in their mid 60’s (only child) it’s wild to think about the life we’ve lived.
#25
16, everyone makes such a big deal of romance and sexual stuff, since I’m aromantic and asexual, I’ve never been in a relationship or even kissed anyone. Anytime I tell anyone this, they make such a big deal out of it, they act like im weird af, they cringe and say all the s**t they’ve done. Like idc? It’s my choice, I’ve had opportunities in the past to kiss but I’ve said no. Everyone expects people to focus on relationships and stuff, it’s just really frustrating.
#26
32 at years end. I have creaks and aches and joint pain but all I ever hear is “oh you’re still young you have no idea”
2 things can be true old lady. My knee can hurt and I’m 40 years younger than you
#27
Well, I will be 30 next month, so in gay years, I will be an old washed out gay.
Image credits: AlwaysSunnyDragRace
#28
33 and you have to decide whether you want kids or not… but just want to enjoy life ?
Image credits: Fickle-Evening5679
#29
27 – pressure/social expectations of having a stable full time job, being in a relationship, thinking about buying house and having kids.
While I feel perfectly comfortable being single, childless and renting apartment.
#30
31. Having had zero relationship experience.
Also having accomplished nothing in life and feeling like it’s too late for basically everything.
Image credits: Solus-The-Ninja
#31
Just turned 33 and fu*k I feel this. It’s the point in life when you work with people both significantly younger and significantly older than you. And a few around the same age as you. The age when you get really serious about retirement and investments, but you still kinda feel young at the same time. And of course the terrifying existentionalism reminding me that this is the youngest I’ll ever be for the rest of my life. Life is weird, man.
Image credits: Melodic-Aardvark-497
#32
28. young enough not to be taken as seriously, old enough to not fit in where you once did / be called ma’am at the grocery store.
Image credits: canopyroads
#33
68. Slowing down, but still having max fun.
#34
I’m 62 and have been walking a lot, long walks on Camino. So I’m in pretty good shape, still appear old BUT feel strong and young. Conundrum!
#35
43. A new diagnosis each year.
#36
14. being looked down upon and the condescending people who are like 5 years older than me telling me everything I’m doing is wrong. I just want to live in peace.
#37
I’m 27 now, almost 28, but when I turned 26 my mental health took a bad turn into a constant anxious state of being. I never really knew why it happened, I think there are many factors including Covid, life changes, but the ultimate factor was the approaching age of 30 imo. Feeling like you’ve done nothing and everyone around you is doing more. My fear of death overtook my desire to enjoy life, like life CANT be over for me just yet, at least while I’m still trying to figure it all out. So my fear of death fed into hypochondriasis and OCD. Never dealt with any of these feelings before in my life, but 26 sparked it all.The limbo state is weird and can also spiral you, so just take care of yourself.
It’s been a long process of working through it but things are getting better and I’m hoping the last few years of my 20s can be enjoyed like the first 6 years were!
Image credits: takeabreakgeaugalake
#38
27.
Worried about my future, feel like my life has been wasted so far and that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and I’ll be 80 and nothing will have changed in my life and I’ll have just spent my life rotting in this stank a*s horrible limbo I’m trapped in.
#39
26- I’m at the stage where half of the people I know expect me to settle down, get married have kids and the other half wants me to party with them, hang out all the time, enjoy my youth while it lasts and says it’s all going too fast and I am too young to settle down. It’s like people are expecting me to be one way or the other, as if I am to choose sides.
Image credits: Wafflehoused
#40
30F
Everything hurts and there’s a societal expectation for me to be super successful and be living the “perfect life”. I’m somehow looked at as a failure or people go “huh, ok” when I tell them I wanna live I quiet life where I blend into society ?. I’ve lived enough chaos already for a lifetime, I wanna be a nobody in the middle of nowhere and live peacefully
Best thing: I’m more financially stable and can live the life I’ve always wanted ?
#41
31. I have PCOS and Hashimoto’s disease, which renders me, basically infertile, yet everyone in my life, at my home, my doctors, my extended family, keeps reminding me I’m getting old and soon my womb will be useless and that treatments aren’t “that expensive” and to hurry up and give my parent a grandchild.
#42
27-I get called an old cat lady because I have four cats. I’m not old ?
#43
38. All of a sudden I’m not young anymore but I still feel 25 in my brain. but also I could die of a clogged artery heart attack which seems crazy. I was 34 when Covid lockdown happened and then everything was nuts for awhile…and now on the other side of it, I have a whole different identity. Which is “not young” but who am I then? And some people my age still look 25 but some of them are looking like the crypt keeper and representing us terribly
#44
32 – have a degree, a title, and a “grown up” job, but have less money and more stress than I did while working at my “childish” restaurant job. Too old to not know what’s going on anymore, too young to have any real impactful resources.
#45
I’m currently 23. I’m slowly starting to realize that i’m losing touch with new trends. I have 2 nephews i love dearly (6 and 7) and they talk about all these new trends i don’t understand. They talked about their friends having “Rizz” and my brain can’t understand what the hell that means. Another thing is i’m already missing the early 2000’s / 2010’s vibes. Everything looks so colorless and bland now compared to how it felt as a kid/teen. People expect me to give up hobbies i’ve had all my life now that i’m an “adult” like Gaming and Collecting. They expect me to talk about taxes instead of things like arcades and cartoons. Bleh.
#46
25. Not old enough to be treated like an adult, and not young enough to be treated like a kid.
#47
I just turned 42 and I still think like I’m in my mid-twenties, I feel like I should be more mature.
#48
24-empty wallet.
Image credits: Kaboon_Ninja_8042
#49
47 – I’ve wasted so much time and money drinking alcohol.
#50
22- my only hope to have nice things in the near future is debt or winning the lottery.
#51
61m- dating.
#52
Mid 30s woman. Everyone’s asking about kids and companies won’t hire me because I might have kids and I’m not sure about having kids and what if I want kids when it’s too late but what if I have kids and regret it and so on and so forth.
#53
25 – Every decision I try to make as an independent adult is questionable and self-doubt is a big thing.
250-300,000€ average for an apartment where I’m from is pretty bonkers too.
#54
18 – My mom kicked me out of her house a few months ago because I didn’t want to go military and idk what I want to do with my life. My whole family is up my a*s every time I see them about what I want to do with my life. I have no idea what I want to do but I’m supposed to have my entire life figured out by now. Luckily my dad is the best and took me in to live with him and doesn’t care if I know what I want, just that I’m working and making money. But yeah feeling like I’ve wasted so much time already not knowing what I want but being too young to actually do s**t is probably the worst thing.
#55
16 – i didn’t know what to do after high school so I’m going college because gives me 2 more yrs. Edit: I live in UK – college is free.
#56
17 – not sure if this applies to everyone, but I have the expectations of an adult with the rights of a child. I have to go to school for 8 hours a day, then work for 3 to 5 hours, and manage all of my current responsibilities, while maintaining good grades to stay on the path of long term educational and financial success. But I also have to ask permission to go to the bathroom.
Image credits: MelioremVita
#57
Being 28 feels like I’m running out of time.
Image credits: Scary-Loss7714
#58
24- Will I die from student debt or not.
#59
70 – Everybody asking when you’re going to retire, already.
#60
31 here i guess the expectations people have of you at your 30’s
I don’t really feel like a adult and people always think im like 20, Legit i still dress the same as i did in highschool and people get shocked when i say my age and say i could be their mom wtf your old.
Then when i read online i see stuff like “get you a woman born in 1992 they old and will settle” I’m like …..
#61
24 atm life’s just wake up, work, sleep, repeat. Have a holiday coming up soon but until/after that there’s just nothing really to look forward to
#62
22 – knowing there’s a full life ahead of me that i have yet to experience, the stresses of being on my own for the first time, having to realize i’m actually young as s**t and not as old as i thought. having to parent my parents, being the oldest one at my job because other people have already graduated college. maybe it’s just me!
#63
36. Discovering how many of your habits and routines are detrimental to your long term health.
#64
50 – Living below average cuz apparently the average is $60K or sooo…can’t just get on a plane to visit my sick mom (long story and does not include jail)…I’ve been ornery about the weather…My shoulder pain won’t go away so I can’t go to the gym…On a lighter note, I have 30 Viagra pills!
#65
I’m 23 and I have friends with degrees, friends traveling the world, friends married with kids, and then there’s people like me who are like wtf am I doing???
Image credits: littlemybb
#66
26- somehow we’ve managed to misconstrue basic things you’re supposed to do as an adult in life as achievements that make you better than others????
Idk where we went wrong but if you’re able to have a career, get married, buy your own house and have a child before 30, I guess that means you’re better than everyone else. I don’t get how we got here but I hate.
Stop bragging about s**t you’re supposed to do as a regular adult.
#67
23- How the f**k am I supposed to start being independent?! Even when I get a job I can’t afford to live on my own, rent is stupid, insurance is stupid, and food prices are stupid. I have no marketable skills for jobs in my field since my university career was put to a stop by COVID (my parent’s house is not conductive to study). Oh yeah, and that one year of university I did (took a gap year) put me into like $30k of debt.
#68
29. Realizing I spent my entire 20’s not living for myself and am desperately trying to figure out who I am before I’m 30. I feel like as a female too I hit a point in my late 20s where I realized I don’t want to dress like I’m 21 anymore but I also don’t want to dress like I’m 30.. so I never know what to wear. Existential crisis, if you will.
#69
Starting over in a new career track at 47. I went from being the guy who could navigate any problem to the new guy. Being the FNG hits different when most of your coworkers are younger than you.
#70
20 – all the girls in our generation are attention seekers, all the guys chase these girls, and throw away the ones that actually hold values. It feels like barely anybody this age is going to be able to settle down with anyone. combined with the housing market, you’d be rather off looking for a long term roommate than a relationship.
#71
Early 40’s.
Many people my age have since crystallized several years ago and do not enjoy new activities, music, open minded thinking, etc. New stuff hurts their brain.
It also appears that the earlier people went through this, the more they resemble symptoms of early dementia and have extreme left or right political beliefs.
#72
28, close to being 30 is the worst…I love the age I am at though…I just wish I’d stopped aging lol.
#73
26-
Going back to school.
Back in 2020 after finishing up my Associates, I then made the decision to further my education at a University.
I have family asking if and when, I will complete my Bachelors however talking with them feels uncomfortable.
Is this normal?
#74
19- want to do alot of stuffbut can’t. Sometimes it my university pulling me back sometimes parents sometimes the finances. its just something everytime. Just waiting to be independent i think that will make things better.
#75
26 – realised I hate the career path I’ve chosen but feeling stuck because despite having a degree and a masters I don’t earn enough money to move out yet and it feels too late to start from square 1 again and ever be able to afford a place of my own. All while I’m seeing people my age with their own houses and careers they’re happy in.
#76
33, being at your prime in life and still being undateable. I don’t want to do this anymore.
#77
25- Not only am I broke with a stable job for the moment, I am suffering from a condition that makes my bones crack and pop from the littlest things and they hurt. Oh! And trying to look for affordable housing which is like looking for a unicorn: nonexistent
#78
Turning 29 this September. I’m single and most people at my age are ready to settle down. There is nothing wrong with that, I’m just not ready.
#79
26, great age for many things but should have started earlier.
#80
27. The existential crisis and feeling like you’re running out of time and your life ends at 30.
Image credits: M0dulo2277
#81
44 – I only have about 40 years left, if I’m lucky. Half of my life is already gone.
#82
25 – Feeling like you should have it all figured out and comparing yourself to your peers.
#83
Staring death in the eye. Just turned 53. My dad died at 54. And I wake up tired and achy every day.
#84
I’m 16. I like to imagine dating gets better when you’re older. Praying it does